Sonia refuses red beacon for car

New Delhi, May 23 (IANS) United Progressive Alliance (UPA) chairperson and Congress president Sonia Gandhi has refused the use of a red beacon on her car, official sources said Wednesday.

"She said no in a firm voice... It was like an order for us," said a cabinet minister, after some leaders tried to reason out with Gandhi at a Congress Parliamentary Party executive committee meeting Tuesday.

"How can I allow thisIJ" she asked, a source said.

Gandhi said 'no' to any notification allowing MPs to flash red beacon on their cars in the national capital region but said states could take their own call.

In December, the parliamentary panel on ethics had sought the privilege of allowing MPs to use red beacons on their vehicles.

The MPs argued that if legislators and panchayat members could use the beacon, why can't they.